Katie O'Reilly
@drkatfish.bsky.social
Aquatic Invasive Species with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant | #GreatLakes | Come for the #ecology & #scicomm, get reeled in by the fish puns
https://iiseagrant.org/about/our-team/katie-oreilly/
https://iiseagrant.org/about/our-team/katie-oreilly/
2025 will be Year 10 (!) of #25DaysofFishmas! Since 2016, December has meant 25 days of fish facts - and not just from me! While my #25DaysofFishmas generally focuses on #GreatLakes fish (though 2020 was also a travel year!), it's great when others share fish from their worlds- the more the merrier!
November 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM
2025 will be Year 10 (!) of #25DaysofFishmas! Since 2016, December has meant 25 days of fish facts - and not just from me! While my #25DaysofFishmas generally focuses on #GreatLakes fish (though 2020 was also a travel year!), it's great when others share fish from their worlds- the more the merrier!
🎶From Atlantic to Pacific, gee the fish facts are terrific!🎶
#25DaysofFishmas is hitting the road! While there's no place like H.O.M.E.S. for the holidays, we'll be traveling beyond the #GreatLakes this year to learn about freshwater fishes from across the US. The road trip kicks off December 1!
#25DaysofFishmas is hitting the road! While there's no place like H.O.M.E.S. for the holidays, we'll be traveling beyond the #GreatLakes this year to learn about freshwater fishes from across the US. The road trip kicks off December 1!
November 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
🎶From Atlantic to Pacific, gee the fish facts are terrific!🎶
#25DaysofFishmas is hitting the road! While there's no place like H.O.M.E.S. for the holidays, we'll be traveling beyond the #GreatLakes this year to learn about freshwater fishes from across the US. The road trip kicks off December 1!
#25DaysofFishmas is hitting the road! While there's no place like H.O.M.E.S. for the holidays, we'll be traveling beyond the #GreatLakes this year to learn about freshwater fishes from across the US. The road trip kicks off December 1!
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put 15 more miles behind her
If they'd put 15 more miles behind her
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put 15 more miles behind her
If they'd put 15 more miles behind her
ngl, the Pacific salmon lifecycle has been my Roman Empire since watching that one Magic School Bus episode as a small child #SundayFishSketch
November 9, 2025 at 11:39 PM
ngl, the Pacific salmon lifecycle has been my Roman Empire since watching that one Magic School Bus episode as a small child #SundayFishSketch
Good question! Kind of - adult sea lampreys stop eating when they enter freshwater + devote all their energy to reproduction. Their digestive systems shrink + other parts of their bodies disintegrate. Females typically die immediately after spawning, but males can remain in the nest for a few days
October 31, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Good question! Kind of - adult sea lampreys stop eating when they enter freshwater + devote all their energy to reproduction. Their digestive systems shrink + other parts of their bodies disintegrate. Females typically die immediately after spawning, but males can remain in the nest for a few days
Not much is scarier for a #GreatLakes fish than the invasive sea lamprey, sometimes called vampire fish 🧛
But while they're more trick than treat in their introduced range, they're actually threatened in parts of their native range of the Atlantic coasts of Europe + North America - that's scary!
But while they're more trick than treat in their introduced range, they're actually threatened in parts of their native range of the Atlantic coasts of Europe + North America - that's scary!
October 31, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Not much is scarier for a #GreatLakes fish than the invasive sea lamprey, sometimes called vampire fish 🧛
But while they're more trick than treat in their introduced range, they're actually threatened in parts of their native range of the Atlantic coasts of Europe + North America - that's scary!
But while they're more trick than treat in their introduced range, they're actually threatened in parts of their native range of the Atlantic coasts of Europe + North America - that's scary!
Opa! Or should I say Opah! Celebrating 9 years of #SundayFishSketch and the community built by @lampichthys.bsky.social - here's to Year 10!
October 26, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Opa! Or should I say Opah! Celebrating 9 years of #SundayFishSketch and the community built by @lampichthys.bsky.social - here's to Year 10!
An old sketch of an Arctic grayling for an Arctic-themed #SundayFishSketch! Despite their name, this species was formerly found as far south as the #GreatLakes basin (see the Michigan city of Grayling), but habitat loss and invasive species led to the grayling's extirpation in the basin
October 20, 2025 at 12:21 AM
An old sketch of an Arctic grayling for an Arctic-themed #SundayFishSketch! Despite their name, this species was formerly found as far south as the #GreatLakes basin (see the Michigan city of Grayling), but habitat loss and invasive species led to the grayling's extirpation in the basin
Podcast title: "Spoiler Alert: This is Not Fine"
October 7, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Podcast title: "Spoiler Alert: This is Not Fine"
A new study finds that the 2023 Supreme Court decision (Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency) has resulted in ~72% of Illinois' remaining 981,000 acres of wetlands no longer being protected by the federal Clean Water Act news.illinois.edu/study-72-of-...
September 30, 2025 at 5:53 PM
A new study finds that the 2023 Supreme Court decision (Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency) has resulted in ~72% of Illinois' remaining 981,000 acres of wetlands no longer being protected by the federal Clean Water Act news.illinois.edu/study-72-of-...
Come join us at @ilinseagrant.bsky.social! We're hiring a Research & Reporting Administrator to manage the program's ~$400,000 per year competitive research portfolio of #GreatLakes science; the position will be based at Purdue University
careers.purdue.edu/job/Research...
careers.purdue.edu/job/Research...
September 22, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Come join us at @ilinseagrant.bsky.social! We're hiring a Research & Reporting Administrator to manage the program's ~$400,000 per year competitive research portfolio of #GreatLakes science; the position will be based at Purdue University
careers.purdue.edu/job/Research...
careers.purdue.edu/job/Research...
When I first moved into my office, there were a couple of crayfish on a shelf that looked like they had been soaking in formaldehyde since the first Bush administration
September 15, 2025 at 3:41 PM
When I first moved into my office, there were a couple of crayfish on a shelf that looked like they had been soaking in formaldehyde since the first Bush administration
Excited to be giving two talks today at the Indiana Invasive Species Conference in Northwest Indiana! Talking all things aquatic invasive species prevention as well as giving a brief history of zebra mussels in the #GreatLakes
September 4, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Excited to be giving two talks today at the Indiana Invasive Species Conference in Northwest Indiana! Talking all things aquatic invasive species prevention as well as giving a brief history of zebra mussels in the #GreatLakes
The Summer 2025 edition of the @iaglr.bsky.social newsletter has several great pieces about the impacts of federal cuts to #GreatLakes science, including delays to doing sea lamprey treatment, cuts to federal staff, and funding impacts on early-career researchers iaglr.org/lakesletter/...
August 27, 2025 at 2:10 PM
The Summer 2025 edition of the @iaglr.bsky.social newsletter has several great pieces about the impacts of federal cuts to #GreatLakes science, including delays to doing sea lamprey treatment, cuts to federal staff, and funding impacts on early-career researchers iaglr.org/lakesletter/...
For those who've known of Appa since the Bird Site days, he also now has a little (in name only) sister named Carmen, who is a Newfoundland.
August 22, 2025 at 4:01 PM
For those who've known of Appa since the Bird Site days, he also now has a little (in name only) sister named Carmen, who is a Newfoundland.
For those who aren't already aware, this is Appa, and he has been my best friend (though not my dog) since he was 1/7 the weight he currently is
August 22, 2025 at 3:57 PM
For those who aren't already aware, this is Appa, and he has been my best friend (though not my dog) since he was 1/7 the weight he currently is
Perils of working from home while dog-sitting: Having to keep myself muted on Zoom calls due to the 140-lb dog snoring at my feet
August 22, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Perils of working from home while dog-sitting: Having to keep myself muted on Zoom calls due to the 140-lb dog snoring at my feet
I'll be giving a couple of talks at the Indiana Invasive Species Conference on Sep 4-5 about aquatic invasive species prevention + the current state of zebra mussels. Continuing ed credits are also available for applicator licenses. Registration closes Friday Aug 22: purdue.ag/invasives25
August 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I'll be giving a couple of talks at the Indiana Invasive Species Conference on Sep 4-5 about aquatic invasive species prevention + the current state of zebra mussels. Continuing ed credits are also available for applicator licenses. Registration closes Friday Aug 22: purdue.ag/invasives25
props to the yellow perch for holding steady
July 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
props to the yellow perch for holding steady
Heartened to see continued support for Sea Grant in the FY26 appropriations bill, a program that, in the Senate's own words, plays "a vital role to... create a sustainable economy and environment" and "provide invaluable educational opportunities to students"
July 18, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Heartened to see continued support for Sea Grant in the FY26 appropriations bill, a program that, in the Senate's own words, plays "a vital role to... create a sustainable economy and environment" and "provide invaluable educational opportunities to students"
The Sturgeon Slide in action
July 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The Sturgeon Slide in action
I personally helped release a baby sturgeon to the Maumee River via Sturgeon Slide during the 2023 event - hope my buddy's doing well out there!
July 15, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I personally helped release a baby sturgeon to the Maumee River via Sturgeon Slide during the 2023 event - hope my buddy's doing well out there!
New research tracking the first-year survival rates for lake sturgeon released to a #GreatLakes tributary, the Maumee River, in 2018, 2019 + 2021 suggests that efforts are on track to achieve naturally-reproducing lake sturgeon in the river (hopefully) by 2038 news.utoledo.edu/index.php/07...
July 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM
New research tracking the first-year survival rates for lake sturgeon released to a #GreatLakes tributary, the Maumee River, in 2018, 2019 + 2021 suggests that efforts are on track to achieve naturally-reproducing lake sturgeon in the river (hopefully) by 2038 news.utoledo.edu/index.php/07...
That's my secret, Cap. I'm always feeling guilty.
July 11, 2025 at 9:52 PM
That's my secret, Cap. I'm always feeling guilty.
*happy eel noises*
July 9, 2025 at 11:06 PM
*happy eel noises*